Muggle Studies Essay
by Palladias
Summary: This is Hermione's final paper for Muggle Studies, written while sleep deprived and on time turner overload.
1. The Assignment

Assignment: We have spent the whole of the year studying muggle culture and history and I hope this course has given you a thorough grounding in Muggle Studies. Of course, one year is not enough time to attain a full understanding of Muggle culture, but this year's studies should have given you all a basic, working knowledge of how to behave in Muggle society and given you a sense of whether you wish to continue with Muggle Studies to an O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. qualification.

Regardless of your future involvement in the subject, our class assignments should have left you with a new enlightenment vis à vis our Muggle neighbours. Please use our class discussions and readings to fully discuss and explore the following prompt: Discuss trends in Wizard-Muggle relations and suggest what level of involvement Wizards should have in Muggle affairs and vice versa.


	2. Hermione's Essay

It goes without saying that wizards have a great deal of influence on Muggle societies, albeit a clandestine one. Witches and wizards appear frequently in Muggle literature and history and these depictions of our world vary extremely in the accuracy of the rendering and the response it produces. Certainly, Muggles have gone as far as to imagine an entire invisible world of beings with superior thaumic abilities who do interact, and, to a certain degree, control the 'normal' world, but these imagining are usually either the provenance of authors of fiction or of occupants of the madhouse (and how many of _these_ were confined for accurate retellings of wizarding indiscretion is unknown). Little attention is paid, however, to the effects of Muggles upon wizards, if any exist. Examination of our present situation and the consequences of changing it, suggests wizard-muggle relations may be far more co-dependent and synergistic than we wish to admit, but the current voluntary blindness to this fact cannot and should not last, lest we one day find, our indifference (at best) towards muggles has left us too similar to the speaker in the Harry Kemp quote, "I pitied him in his blindness / But can I boast, "I see?" / Perhaps there walks a spirit / Close by, who pities me."

Although Muggles are unaware of our continued existence, (due to extensive efforts on the part of the wizarding world) it has not always been so, and our original relations greatly inform present perspectives. The development of wizardry and its subsequent classification of such have been lost in antiquity. We do know that many early tribes had shamans and spiritual guides who claimed to be able to manipulate their outside environment with methods attributed to magic or to favour of the gods. It is not clear if these positions were always held by witches and wizards, or if shamans finagled out a privileged existence by using a series of what we would call parlour tricks until one day a shaman was surprised as anyone to see an effect of their incantation and later sought to find others with this gift and train them, or if shamanism and magic never crossed paths.

It _is_ certain that magic, and, more importantly, magical study, truly resembled the wizardry we know so well during the glory days of the Roman Empire. Most of our spells are in Latin, and temple service devoted to Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, offered an excellent front for magical study. At this point, magic and witchcraft was not subject to the same hatred and fear that characterized witch-scares of later ages. It is hypothesized that wizardry's relatively hidden status was less from fear of the religious leaders of the time, than the fear of being scapegoated and destroyed as Rome declined and fell and the ruling class became increasingly desperate and paranoid.

As the world recovered from the Dark Ages, magic no longer occupied a privileged or even tolerable position in Muggle minds. Certainly when Muggles study history, there is no 'wizard' on the feudal system pyramids. This decline was caused by a variety of factors, but the most powerful was the enormous power of religion and representatives of these religions. The Church gained power for being the only symbol of stability in a rapidly crumbling world. The most powerful human-based power had utterly collapsed, leaving many abandoned, and the Church seemed the only thing that was able to preserve and protect.

As the Church rose to power, it targeted those who seemed weakest, and witches and wizards were not the only ones to suffer. Those who realized the rise of the Church was inevitable hoped only that, once established, the Church would relax its dogmas and adapt to accept those who had lived in relative peace with its followers for so many years. Unfortunately, this was not to be. The Church in stability found its followers straying and was forced to continue to invent dangers that only the Church could offer protection from, so as to corral its worshippers. Witchcraft and wizardry presented an excellent nemesis for the Church to counter. Even when wizards hid themselves, the Church proved adept at finding Muggles to castigate as witches, and the label proved a handy catchall for all manners of heretics.

The absence of wizards and decreased credence in the existence of witchcraft forced the Church to re-centre blame for evil on the worshippers themselves and their sinful ways, particularly as demonstrated in Calvinist sects in America as well as during the American Great Awakening when Jonathan Edwards railed against his fellow citizens with his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Although witch burnings declined in popularity, the damage had been done. The noble art of witchcraft had been irrevocably linked to the 'handmaidens of Satan' and certainly, a witch unfairly driving one off the path of righteousness was a far better excuse than ones own sinful nature.

(By no means was the Catholic Church the only religious organization to persecute others and control by fear, and I do not wish to paint it as blacker than other religions of that time or others. I focus on Catholicism and some of its offspring because these were the religions in power in Europe at the time wizards were driven into hiding and had the greatest effect towards this outcome. I will certainly recognise modern day Christianity, even in the most extreme sects, has made the leap from burning people to burning books. Perhaps in another millennium, they will have weaned themselves entirely from the pyromania that has thus far gripped them, and the beliefs and tenets of Christianity and other religions will stand on their own merits, to be judged with eyes unimpaired by fear. But I digress.)

The persecution increased to the point where, in 1692, the International Confederation of Wizards met and approved the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, to separate the wizard community from Muggles forever. Even as this division was determined and began to be enforced, emotions other than hatred and fear began to bloom in Muggle hearts. 'Natural Philosophers' were early scientists who mainly emerged during the Renaissance. They sought to unify the study of magic and the study of science, often by applying scientific method to magical endeavour. Although natural philosophers never attained their stated goals, many branches of study, such as alchemy, resulted in important discoveries of elements and basic laws of matter. Alchemical studies provided the basis for the Muggle science of chemistry.

In the modern age, a fascination with the mechanics of magic has given way to a fascination with all aspects of magic. School children eagerly celebrate each Hallowe'en by donning robes and wielding wands. Witches and wizards, for many years relegated to villain roles such as the White Witch of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and the Wicked Witch of the West of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz. Attitudes have shifted, and witchcraft is attracting far more positive attention and occasional admiration than previously. (Indeed, rumours in the literary community have suggested newcomer Gregory Maguire will be releasing an ambitious first novel tentatively titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West to defend and flesh out this infamous Witch.)

Most surprisingly, wizardry, a practise driven into hiding by religious zeal, has found a following as a religious movement. Some branches of paganism, such as Wicca, do not only incorporate traditional pagan practises of nature worship, but also claim to do magic. This magic takes many different forms, some treating it as a more effective type of prayer with lengthy invocations to the God and Goddess forming key parts of spells and rituals, and others ascribing their magical powers to manipulating and sensing the intrinsic spirit and power of those elements of nature around them. Either technique, although certainly not traditional wizarding method, has many adherents who believe they have discovered magic, and seem delighted at the prospect.

(It is well worth noting that Wicca, although claiming to be based on ancient Celtic traditions, is a relatively new phenomenon. The members of this group have had, relatively speaking, a far shorter length of time to cope with the consequences of any 'powers' they may have tapped into and, as Wicca makes no promises of the extended lifespan we wizards enjoy, each individual Wiccan practitioner has considerably less time than the average wizard to come to terms with thaumic ability. And yet, _this_ organization of magical practitioners has made non-violent, and furthermore, _benign_ practise of their Art a basic tenet of membership. At the end of the Wiccan Rede, a poem setting out the goals and rules of Wicca, the closing lines are far more noble than any laws of the wizarding world, "Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfil/ An' it harm none/ Do what ye will." These self-styled witches have, in under a century, agreed on a basic, humanitarian belief the majority of the wizarding world has yet to comprehend!)

Fiction, too, suggests a longing on the part of Muggles to practise magic. Fantasy sections in bookstores continue to expand (sometimes faster than decent fantasy books are published), and some fantasy magazines have sprung up and stand a decent chance of matching science fiction publications. These fantasy novels are designed to appeal to a wide range of children, though many parents admit enjoying them as well. These books (barring historical fiction) focus less on the stigmas of witchcraft than the unique moral challenges that magic provokes. Some of these stories seem simply to incorporate magic into the entirely fictional setting of a mischievous school (wizarding or otherwise) where the hero/ine is merely set up to oppose some rival where both use their magic as a supplement to their mischief. Others use magic as a weapon between the sides of Good and Evil on a battlefield with easily distinguishable sides, and no one caught in the middle (or if they are, they are not graced with names or personalities). These are often disappointingly popular. Far more exciting are the very good types of magic books where magic presents all sorts of ethical difficulties and the protagonist must use or not use the power for good. Often these books explore the consequences of magic either as an accepted part of the world or when hidden. (For more information on _good_ fantasy, see any of the following authors: Diane Duane, Edward Eager, Dianna Wynne Jones, Madeleine L'Engle, and E. Nesbit. (This is only a partial list.))

All of the above evidence suggests that the modern Muggle has moved past old prejudices and may be more open to the discovery of the wizarding world. It now seems that sources of tension between wizards and Muggles would stem less from the latter's distrust of the former and more from Muggle jealousy for a wizard's powers. It does not seem advisable, for this and other reasons, to adopt a policy of complete disclosure towards Muggles, but we ought to question our current policies. If Muggles have progressed so much during our long absence, have our opinions made similar strides? It also is fairly obvious what Muggles have lost due to our split, but have we wizards lost something as well?

If the attitudes of wizards are contrasted with those of Muggles, it certainly does not appear that we have the same level of interest in the world that surrounds us as Muggles do in a world they do not honestly believe exists. Muggle Studies remains one of the most neglected classes in Hogwarts. Few students chose to take it, and fewer still continue through to N.E.W.T. exams. Considering that, without Muggle Studies, wizarding students receive no training whatsoever on the world and culture that, sooner or later, they must deal with, it is little wonder the Ministry of Magic has so much trouble with mandating voluntary compliance with the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, when so few wizards have an accurate idea of what a Muggle would perceive as out of the ordinary.

(It is shocking that a distinguished wizarding school like Hogwarts would allow students to leave with so little grounding in the subject. Prejudice against Muggles, and therefore, against Muggle-borns, certainly may flourish when such gross ignorance of others is allowed and even encouraged. Mastery is required in core subjects such as Potions and Transfiguration, but Muggle Studies remains an elective that students may take or leave as they see fit. If Muggle Studies entered the core curriculum with all students required to attempt at least an O.W. L., much of the indifference towards the subject might be abolished and greater understanding of our neighbours might be possible. It is worth noting that, as current curriculum stands, the third-year Muggle Studies class has not, in fact, met even a single Muggle. There are many Muggle-born students whose parents might agree to come up for a weekend visit and be interviewed by the students. Such an encounter, open to any Muggle parents, could do a great deal for the school. Although parents would not be able to enter the building, a meeting on the grounds could be arranged, perhaps after the Christmas hols. Parents would be able to visit the school and meet the teachers they know so little of, and students would be able to think about Muggles, and Muggle life, not just on an abstract level, but on a personal one. This might do a great deal to dispel anti-Muggle feeling, as the students would have to reconcile previous beliefs about the dangers and inferiority of Muggles with the actuality of the person they had met.)

Wizards officially split from the Muggle world at the end of the seventeenth century, and, although Muggle knowledge has entered our world piecemeal through Muggle-born students, most wizard technology exists at the level it did when we split. It is not feasible, of course, for Hogwarts to accommodate laptops and the Muggle Internet, but the adoption of cameras has demonstrated how useful Muggle technology can be and how easily it may be adapted for wizarding purposes.

It is only at Hogwarts that the magic inherent to the building disables electrical machines. Certainly, wizarding families would find themselves able to, in their own homes, utilize more up-to-date technology, even for something as simple as lighting, rather than Hogwarts's candles and tapers. We cling to candles and quills, not because they are the most effective solutions, but merely because they are the most familiar and traditional. Even at Hogwarts, Muggle technology can be used as long as it only requires simple physics. Even Hogwarts does not unilaterally violate the laws of gravity; the class schedule is regulated by a large Foucalt pendulum.

Ignoring Muggle technology is inconvenient for wizards and is not guaranteed to prevent discovery of our world by the Muggles. As Muggle technology has advanced, magic hasn't kept up or even kept abreast of the changes. Hogwarts does appear to be a dilapidated wreck, completely abandoned, to any Muggle eyes. If that same Muggle views Hogwarts with infrared goggles, or any sort of heat tracking device, it is clear the building is inhabited. No Muggle has yet, as far as we know, noticed Hogwarts in this manner, but space is limited and Muggle populations on the rise; we may not be safe forever.

The biggest differences between ourselves and Muggles stem not from material differences and magic, but from the ideological changes that have developed as we have spent hundreds of years disengaged. Exposed to a wider range of stimuli, Muggles have been forced to change their philosophies, laws, and personal conduct to react to a changing world. But we wizards, able as we are to magic away many problems, or sometimes simply to shut ourselves off from all disturbing developments, have made considerably less progress.

(So many 'pureblood' families are sequestered on their manors that it is no wonder they come to Hogwarts with a fear of the unfamiliar, i.e. Muggles. These manors also represent another throwback to the feudal age. Each self-styled little 'lord of the manor' unless he or she has grown up with siblings, comes to school entirely unprepared to relate to and interact with peers. These students also have had, for the most part, no formal schooling and are unprepared compared to Muggle-borns insofar as study skills and socialization are concerned. The shock of leaving their isolated homes taken with the entrance of students who, if not better acquainted with magic, are certainly better acquainted with school, may contribute to anti-Muggle feeling among all wizarding families. It would be a great thing if some Muggle-wizard families might 'foster' a child in a manner similar to a foreign-exchange program.)

One of the most crucial skills that wizards have lost is the ability to reason logically. This lack of logic is the largest reason Muggle advances have been ignored, because rather than reacting dynamically, wizards stick to tradition. In classes here at Hogwarts, this nonreason is particularly evident. Magic is taught with very little theory presented, and most classes devoted only to practical repetition of the incantation.

(I was very disappointed to find Potions did not resemble the Muggle subject Chemistry at all. In Chemistry, although one induces reactions in much the same way as in Potions (following a series of very specific instructions) mere prowess at inducing reactions is not a sign of success. Anyone with sufficient care to details and meticulousness can successfully brew a potion or form a chemical reaction when given adequate directions. It is the understanding of _why _these directions work that should be the focus of such a course. In Chemistry students do perform experiments, but only after studying the theory. Chemistry exists to instruct Muggle students about atomic and subatomic physics and I hate doing potion after potion with little to no explanation as to _why_ these ingredients combine in this particular way. _Why _does the direction of stirring _matter_? I've heard older, N.E.W.T. students get to spend more time on theory, especially when brewing poison antidotes, but it seems so foolish to hold back the knowledge that would make Potions make sense until long after everyone has lost interest.)

Continued repetition and memorization of facts without a theory to put them in context has had a deleterious effect on education in Muggle schools, and may well have the same effect in Hogwarts. Students in Muggle mathematics classes (similar to Arithmancy) are often taught theorems in the same way we are taught Potions. The teacher introduces the theorem, the teacher gives an example of when and how the theorem is used, and for the rest of the class, and students use the theorem in situations that deviate very little from the example provided by the teacher. At no point do students learn _how_ the theorem is proved, the very essence of mathematics. Instead, the mistaken impression is given that Maths is merely the memorizing of a great many arbitrary rules and theorems. This belief leaves students unable to differentiate between true theorems and false ones, and students are extremely vulnerable to 'learned nonsense.' This same weakness is inherent in present methods of instruction in the wizarding world.

One reason this problem has not been observed by wizards as it has been by Muggles is that wizards have a much smaller body of knowledge to draw upon. Although Hogwarts bills itself as the only wizarding _school_ in Britain, it would be more accurate to refer to the education we receive here as a standard apprenticeship. The number of years we spend in school corresponds nicely to a seven-year apprenticeship. The ultimate difference between our apprenticeships and the education that Muggles get is that we only learn one trade, wizardry. No one has studied the effects of current wizarding education, because there are no wizarding behavioural scientists. Our Muggle Studies textbook, Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles, clarifies many illustrations by noting the profession of the Muggle in question. (e.g. "A Muggle _plumber_," "Muggle _scientist_," and "Muggle _officedrone_ in its office.") A wizard has no other title.

Wizards have specialised in several different areas of study such as Healing or Potions, but no wizard gains expertise in a subject not directly related to _wizardry_. Muggle children, regardless of the career they pursue, must attain mastery in a variety of subjects (Language Arts, Maths, Science, Foreign Language, History, etc.). Wizarding education could be greatly improved if we, too, were taught enough about a variety of subjects to be able to better understand the world around us and to broaden our minds and our frame of reference.

(Really, it is laughable that we are never properly instructed in writing and language arts. The essays we write for class are graded primarily based on whether we have successfully reported the data relevant to the question. Rarely do we spend class time discussing the most effective methods of _presenting_ the information that we have learned. This has many negative consequences, the most important of which are: One, students do not have much opportunity to improve their writing, and it is not uncommon for even third year students to fall into such elementary writing errors as beginning an essay on the importance of unicorn hairs in potion making with the phrase: "I think unicorn hairs are important in potion making for many reasons." The same student ended with the line, "In conclusion, those were some of the reasons unicorn hairs are important in potion making." (cited, with permission, from R. Weasley's third year essay, "Unicorn Hairs are Important in Potion Making") The second problem, inexperience with the methods of good writing (or, indeed, any type of writing), is that students will not be adept at spotting writing techniques in other authors and do not learn to _analyse_ what they read. Students do not learn to critically consider other sources and look for bias in writing. Hogwarts students do not learn to differentiate between fact and fiction because there is no acknowledgement of the existence of fiction.)

Cutting ourselves off from Muggle knowledge severely weakens our own progress on both intellectual and magical levels. The help Muggle science can offer us can be clearly seen when considering an advance we wizards take for granted: the use of chocolate to treat the victims of Dementor attacks. This treatment has become particularly well known at Hogwarts since the grounds have been patrolled by Dementors for the entire year. Wizards do take chocolate after an encounter with the misery-provoking creatures, but the origins of this treatment are murky. It seems most likely that this is the wizarding equivalent of a folk remedy; found by trial and error, the cure is practised without any understanding of _why_ it works.

It was Muggle scientists who discovered why chocolate is so effective at boosting happiness. In every human body are certain chemicals called neurotransmitters. These chemicals are released by commands of the brain and regulate most of our basic functions. Endorphins are a particular type of chemical that provokes feelings of joy, happiness, euphoria, sexual desire, and decrease awareness of pain. They act, in essence, in a manner similar to cheering charms. Endorphins are manufactured by the bodies routinely, and are released at times of stress. Muggle scientists have found that eating chocolate stimulates the body to release increased levels of endorphins. Chocolate counters the depressive influence of Dementors by bolstering the body's natural defences.

It might not seem important to know the Muggle science behind a wizarding remedy; after all, we didn't need Muggle science to discover it. It is true that the application of science to a wizarding problem, in this case, is unnecessary. However, the fact that this Muggle discovery is relevant to problems in the wizarding world suggests it may not be the only one. By examining our problems from a new perspective, we may find solutions that have eluded us. Muggle advances may be extremely relevant and useful to our world. If a neurochemist can find a cure for Dementor attacks, a physicist may find a way to protect a house against attacks of Death Eaters.

We aren't living in the seventeenth century any longer, and, although magic can meddle with time, it cannot stop it. We must recognise the potential offered by the Muggle world and seize it. It will be a great day when there shall be no class labelled Muggle Studies because all classes incorporate elements of wizarding and Muggle knowledge. If we continue to wilfully shut our eyes to the strides and achievements our Muggle brothers and sisters have made, we are as ignorant of them as they are of us. Our ignorance is the more shameful, as we have chosen ignorance over knowledge, while Muggles have had ignorance forced upon them. We must heed the words of Leonardo da Vinci (a Muggle genius who continually sought knowledge of the world around him and applied this knowledge constantly; it is _criminal_ that barely a dozen children in Hogwarts would know his name) who said, "Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." The wizarding world must act, and change must come from the young, rather than those to set in their ways and atrophied. Perhaps the first piece of Muggle knowledge we should take advantage of comes from Muggle Ernestine L. Rose who spent years as an activist in the United States, working for women's rights. She said, "Agitate! Agitate! Ought to be the motto of every reformer. Agitation is the opposite of stagnation - the one is life, the other death." The time has come for change.


	3. Teacher Response

Ms. Granger,

I was disappointed to find this paper not up to your usual standards. Certainly it is very well-written, in sections, and, I must confess, better than what my other students have turned in, but really, I was quite surprised. Your narration of the history of Wizard-Muggle relations was quite masterful, and I might have ignored the side note on problems posed by the Catholic Church if it had been an isolated incident, but it was not. Your discussion of Muggle attitudes towards magic was also well thought out, and it is an issue that is seldom discussed. It was at this point, however, your objectivity, which I have grown used to as a staple of your writing, began to slip. Wicca is a religion, not magic, and therefore the morals of that society do not offer a counterpoint to ours. Your paper especially seemed to lose focus with your discussion of education here at Hogwarts. Hogwarts was set up more than a thousand years ago by the four greatest wizards of the age, I'm sure that Muggle analysis is very useful in their world, but it was not designed to take into account the complexity of wizard education. You are very quick to decide you know better than our Founders. As your paper progresses, you become increasingly distracted and tangential, giving far more credit to Muggle technology than is merited. We have persisted for hundreds of years, relying on our strength and magic, while the Muggles you laud, attempted to destroy us. The wizarding world is constantly under threat from without and within; stability is our best defence.

Addendum: I have just spoken to Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore. Both have assured me you have been under a great deal of stress due to your heavy course load and did spend a night in the hospital wing. I was relieved to hear it, if only because your final essay is now an understandable result of the extreme stress you have been under. I have revised your marks upwards accordingly and wish you a speedy recovery.

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